


Coffee Break

by ReneeDekobora2042



Category: Rhythm Doctor
Genre: Café, Coffee, F/M, Medical Conditions, Rhythm Games, These two are so cute together okay?, cute relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29907003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeDekobora2042/pseuds/ReneeDekobora2042
Summary: Cole has snuck out of the hospital again to see Nicole during work, but he plans to tell her more than just his decreased coffee intake. Or, at least he hopes he will.
Relationships: Cole Brew/Nicole Ting, Cole/Nicole, ColexNicole
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Coffee Break

“Alright, just take a deep breathe… You’ve done this before.”

Cole took a deep breathe in, then out. The last thing he needed right now was his heart racing and the doctors coming to drag him back to his ward. Besides, he had talked with Nicole a million times already, and this time wasn’t exactly special; he was going to talk for a little bit, then invite the barista to grab something to drink together, that was it. He had considered back in his room asking her if she wanted to get coffee, but soon came to terms that it was probably for the best of both of them that they don’t. He was already in trouble for leaving his room all those times before, and getting coffee on top of breaking out now was going to land him in hot water. 

He shook his head, trying to shake himself out of the funk he was in. “Jeez man, keep it together.” He told himself. “You’re just grabbing like, a water or something with her right now. No big deal. We got this.”

Finally, with his courage gathered, Cole stepped into the café. The little bell above the door signalled his arrival to the many patrons inside, yet that twinkling sound was drowned out by all the chatter and bustle of the busy establishment. He didn’t think he had ever seen this place so busy before. Then again, the only times he had really been to visit Nicole was during closing time or at night, so it was to be expected. The café was one of the most popular places in town to grab a drink after all, and with affordable prices too, what wasn’t there to love about this place?

He searched around the café for Nicole, glancing between person to person to see if it was her. She wasn’t difficult to spot for Cole who was more than acquainted with the Barista’s signature green hair that always seemed to be falling out of her ponytail – it shouldn’t be hard to find her even if it was busy.

But it was after a beat that he started to get worried – Where was she? He looked at the rows upon rows of tables where customers were sat, then to the counter where she spent most of her work time – no sign of her. Was she off for the day? No, it was a weekday, she couldn’t be… right? Maybe she slept in or… maybe something worse had happened to her? 

He felt his heart seize up a little at the thought. They both were patients at the hospital for sure, but it was only smoking and caffeine she was in for and she was recovering better than himself. If something happened, then that virtual doctor would have been on the case… right? If something was wrong, she would’ve texted him at some point. It wasn’t the first time they had had treatment together, he could have gone with her! But but… why wasn’t she here now? Why couldn’t he find her?

His heart fluctuated for a beat. 

“Umm… Cole?”

Cole seized up as he turned on his heels to see who the voice was, his grief quickly turning to relief and his heart calming again. He sighed, pulling slightly on his hoodie’s strings. “Jeez Nicole, where were you? I looked everywhere in this place!”

She was taken aback by his suddenness for a second, before giggling. “Why? Were you concerned about me?” She asked.

A blush graced Cole’s cheeks. “Well – You know… We’re both going through some serious medical stuff…” He adjusted his cap, trying to play it cool. “How can I get my coffee if I don’t have a lovely Barista to serve it to me, right?”

“Oi, no coffee for you.” Nicole said jokingly. She rolled her eyes, motioning outside with her hand. “I just had to run some deliveries to one of the cars nearby. We’re short on delivery staff for a while, so we’re doing a click and collect thing.” She paused for a second, before asking with a smirk, “Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital?”

“Well, is there still space for me to sit at the counter?” Cole interjected quickly, dodging the question as he made his way over to the counter bar. “I’ll take anything that isn’t coffee if that’s alright with you.”

Cole heard her tut behind him as he took his seat at his usual spot. He watched as she walked around the counter and grabbed a drink from one of the fridges, placing it in front of him. He raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?” He asked, turning it around in his hands.

“It’s flavoured water, dude.” She paused, then pointed a finger at him. “That you still have to pay for by the way.” She reached for one of the cups at the back, drying it off near him so they could still talk while she worked. Cole was about to speak up – you know, small talk and stuff – when her attention was quickly averted as a customer came to the counter. She hurriedly finished off what she was doing, before uttering a small apology to him and heading off to answer the customers calls. That was cool and all, it gave him more time to think of words to say anyway.

He cracked open the bottle cap of his water and took a sip – strawberry flavoured. It was surprisingly refreshing compared to his usual choice of beverage, but he wasn’t sure if it was good enough to replace it entirely. He took another drink, letting the water slide down his throat. It had almost cooling properties to it as he felt his heart fade to a gentle beat; at least the Virtual doctor wouldn’t be on his ass for his heart rate with this around.

A few minutes passed before Nicole came back, her hair in her face. She was clearly hard working, but all that stress couldn’t be good for her. He watched as she took a heavy sigh – from exhaustion or relief, he wasn’t sure. “Right, so I’ve asked my colleague to cover the counter while I deal with the washing and drying.” She picked up another glass from behind the counter, running a cloth over its watered surface. “So, what did you wanna talk about?”

Cole tensed. “Oh well… I just wanted to see how you were doing. You’ve not been at the hospital for some time now.”

“Ian said that things looked to be clearing up for me, so I’ve only been getting checks from that new doctor from time to time.” She chuckled, placing the clean glass next to the others, ready to be used. “Coffee isn’t too much of a problem now. Just gotta sort out my smoking, I guess.”

Cole smiled at her. “That’s great news! And hey,” He pulled out his phone from his pocket. “If you ever need an earworm to take your mind of it, you’ve also got me.”

“Oh? Have you been making some new tracks recently?” She inquired. “I’d love to hear them when you have the time.”

He placed his phone on the counter next to him as he moved to play with his hoodie sleeve, averting his eyes from her. “I’ve just been inspired recently by something. I still turn to coffee here and there, but I think it’s getting better.”

Nicole finished her current glass and started on the next. “That’s awesome! I’m sure you’ll be out of there in no time.” She winked at him. “Maybe one day you’ll tell me your muse so I can get inspired to quit smoking or something.

The two of them laughed together, Cole being the first to speak up. “Yeah, you know… maybe some day I will…” He uttered, peering at his water. His heart fluttered. “Maybe once were both out of treatment we can do something fun together.” He finished his sentence, only to release his wording afterwards. He began to splutter, “I-I mean like you know, take a trip as friends o-or just celebrate being out or-or-or…” He looked to her to see a smirk on her face. Cole sighed, facing palming from his utter awkwardness. That wasn’t cool at all. What was he thinking?!

“Yeah.” She responded to him, causing the musician to look up from his embarrassment. She continued. “Yeah, I’d like that. Even if it’s just playing games all day and eating a ton of junk food, it’ll be a nice to do something different from my norm.” She ushered some dirty dishes and glasses into the dishwasher. “I’m not sure that’ll be so soon though…”

Cole took another sip of water. “Huh? Why not? I thought Ian said you were getting better.”

He watched her wrap a piece of her hair around her finger, playing with the messy strands. “In terms of the coffee and smoking situation, yeah. Yet…” She paused, lips firmly pressed into a thin line, like she was unsure of what to say. “There’s just something that made my heart freak out a little recently. Something that’s a little harder for me to quit. That’s why the virtual doctor does regular check-ups with me.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” He asked, his heart sinking a little at the thought of her taking longer to recover. 

Nicole stopped for a moment, before she started laughing seemingly out of nowhere, drawing the attention of some nearby patrons. After some time, she calmed herself down and responded with, “Ironically, I don’t think you helping me would do much to better myself. In fact,” She caught a glass her co-worker had slid down to her, placing it in the washer. “It might make it worse if anything.”

Cole felt his heart skip a beat. Or three. Or maybe even five. Ironically? What did she mean by ironically? How would he helping her make it worse? He wanted the best for her and couldn’t even consider the idea of hurting her. Was… was she having the same beats that he was? It couldn’t… 

It couldn’t be what he was thinking of, right?

His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest at this point, crazy ideas running through his mind. 

A silence fell between them, only the sounds of the customers and gentle music filtering through the quiet. Cole took a swing of his drink, taking down the water with a hard swallow. His heart was still pounding – so much for it helping to calm his heart. He felt like his words were a mess in his mouth, like what he usually experienced when he was writing his songs. He had hundreds of thoughts, but no way of letting them escape himself. “N-Nicole…” He managed to sputter out, drawing her attention to him. 

What did he say now? He wasn’t even sure that he fully understood what she meant by him not helping? What if he was interpreting it wrong? Oh jeez, what if he admitted it here and she just straight up rejected him?! In front of everyone too?! His heart would just shatter into a million pieces if that happened, and he wasn’t sure the doctors could fix something as broken as that. His heart was already going at a mile a minute! 

“Cole,”

He glanced up to face Nicole, only to see her with her elbows on the counter and a soft smile on her lips. Damn it… He couldn’t help but admit she was gorgeous, even with the messy ponytail and ruffled work uniform. She was the one person he had felt like he could talk to during treatment, and to have her so interested in his music was such an honour to him. Her joy from his music was what kept him going through everything, and he couldn’t help but admire that she had some serious gaming skills. To think that the two of them could have met in such unfortunate medical circumstances. If his heart was a fast-paced beat then, it was like heavy dubstep now.

Nicole leaned in slightly to Cole, her breathe tickling his face. “Cole, is there something you wanna tell me?”

“I-I-I… Well…”

The door of the café slammed open, the bell erupting an aggressive ding. “Cole Brew! What have I already told you?!”

Oh no, it was Doctor Paige. His heart must have been going crazy and alerted them. He couldn’t talk his way out of this one. Why couldn’t it have been Ian?!

Cole was already getting to his feet, sprinting to barge his way out of the door. He shouted, “I’m sorry Nicole, I’ll pay you back later, thanks for the talk, talk later, bye!” as he managed to hustle past Ada at the door, and began to run down the street as fast as he could. They couldn’t yell at him if he never got caught after all. Big brain move, Cole.

“Cole, get back here!” Ada cried, her brow furrowed with frustration as she span on her heels to go after him. “The virtual doctor said you needed treatment!” 

Nicole watched the door close as the two of them sped off down the street and out of sight, the café eventually returning to the nattering it had before. Well… back to work as usual, Nicole thought, grabbing another glass to put into the dishwasher. She wished she could have talked a little more with him, but it was fine. She had more important things to do anyway.

It was as she closed the washer and flicked it on that she noticed the items on the counter. Cole had left in such a hurry that he had left his phone sitting there on top, his drink next to it. She rolled her eyes – what was she going to do with him? He wasn’t going to get anywhere if he kept losing things that he had his hard work on. And leaving without paying as well! 

She capped the drink for him and placed it on a separate countertop out of the way, labelling it with the words “Hoodie boy” so she would know exactly whose it was. She then picked up his phone. She knew she should probably take care of it until he returned. She scoffed – maybe she could hold his phone at ransom until he paid her back. At the very least she could keep it safe, she thought, moving to place the phone in one of the pockets of her apron.

The phone’s screen lit up.

“Oops, I didn’t mean to turn the screen on-” She began, but she was caught in her words suddenly. 

Cole’s lock screen was a selfie the two of them had taken together the first time he had escaped from the hospital to come visit her. It was like yesterday; She could still feel his arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulling her in. He had smiled with a triumphant grin from his successful break, while she was more focused on his warmth, a gentle blush on her face. It was a little embarrassing to look at now, but she could remember it so fondly. 

And he had it as his lock screen. A selfie. Of just the two of them. Together. Alone.

She smiled, turning off the phone screen and putting in it her apron pocket, ready to give back to him later.

Her heart skipped a beat.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I love Rhythm Doctor and its characters and these two stuck out to me. Please tell me what you thought in the comments!


End file.
